New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-12-11
GENERAL mitchell.
. COLDER AND A MAN OF SCIENCE

rr.o lifc Of General Mitchell is memorable ior
,oiuorlc work accomplished under eXtraoruli"rS
disic,,ltios ard with far reaching beneh'iai re-
,ults. hYt the chief interest OF his memoir "S
his son lies in the extraordinary eNhIplu"h VI 1"
,t,onc well balanced character tested uhuer
STRANGELY contrastod conditions and ringing OUT
+he sa,o clear note in the silence OF an astrohoihi~
cal observatory and in the roar OF battle JUS
d.etinr;l ishiug traits were those OF Inc pohce'-
oarrrucss 10 rush forward. discomfort WIN Hh"o-
,;cr i,,oule;ve couracc thickness Of resource,
sclf-coniidcncc almost audacious and anoNc an
m aptncSs for he initiative. lie was not oh'N
ready 20 strike into new paths, but nc WI" wv
frs; to fin1 them and he wanted no promp,inSS ~
ca On In whatever business occupied MN n
seemed - hc the ORIGINAL central energy VIII"
started and sustained the movement ile w.
in fact the son Of n bacllwoods ploheer' anu "V
the acc Of seven was carried from ken'"'NH '
Ohio. crossing the river AZ Clnclhh'I'
p,coses the bocraphor to fancy that aS ne '"'
In his mothers arms, his little BRAN my P'
hive had some glimmcring fore sense oi '"' WV
,cr,,atorv no was 10 found quarter OF century
later Nav he not on the tor oi Fon'ler
hill. distinctly visible from the bosom OF 'he
,ivcr. stone building. IFS roof rolling 10 one
s;dcp 4 tube It's brass mountings rejecting '"'
yellow ravs. pointing to the sun before whose lace
oncstion is not susceptible of positive answer
Int we feel sure that he nothing OF the
kind At the age of thirteen, when III WAS
nronosod to a,prcnticc him 10 a trade which ne
disIikcd. he Informed The family that they n'ea
he at no further trouble about his auairs' lor
he should hcnccforth take care OF hlmS'H' I'o
torrd eupIovmcrt in a store: losing that place
lie hired himself 10 wagner untl ne you
another. BY accident he read notice OF 'h'
Military Academy ar West Point and through
his own solicitations he obtained cadctshlp' lie
was graduated with sufficient credit To receive
an assistant profcssorship at the Academy ana
after two years of this duty ana one year III
garrison at St Augustine he resigned 10 seek
his fortune in the West lie had WIFE, no
,oorcv. and no definite prospects. except Of rrac-
Using law for which he had made LITTLE pre-
Iin,irarv study Necessity drove him 10 teaching
an1 he presently became professor OF math 'ma1i'S
crrinccring mechanics and astronomy IN '"'
Cincinnati Colcre. Here he dcvcioned MS gre"
rift as popular lecturer on astronomy IA SCI nee
in which il docs not apl ear from the mpH"lr
that he had received any special training :"
times" saws his biographer. flights Of eoqucncc
Uould corlc 20 HIM: Il seemed from ont the hcaV-
anlv host 50 grand the inspirat on St"rt'nS
from tlo earth he would wheel away INFO inter
most sracc until one felt uneasy about his
at last TO the hall from whence he started
This is high colorcd description, but Professor
Mitchcls effect upon his audiences was unIucs-
tionably extraordinary.
u vos NJ the close Of a course Of lectures n
Cincinnati in 1912 that lac proposed and ;mm'd'-
atc,v began the most remarkable work Of MS 'f"'
the foundation in that city. by popular rip
ton Of a great observatory. furnished with one
Of the largest TELESCOPES in the world There
WAS no astronomical observatory whatever in the
United States at that time, and 20 little con-
cepton Of the usefulness Of such an institution
tlat proposition of Prcsident John quincy
Adams TO establish under the auspices Of
the Cove rnment had been dccisively ncgat 'ci 10y
Congress and rdiculed all oyer the country
Cincinnati moreover one OF the last pi'Cts
in which project like Professor MitchcTs could
he expected 10 succeed. II our day that :b,iv'ng
CITY is noted for its public spirit and rs hti
pitality 10 the arts and sciences bat for'y-fve
wears ago il had hardly ceased TO be frontier
town: it had no aspirations toward cJit ire; and
il is safe TO assume that among It's people 'hcie
was no interest in astr omy except what Ml'cEeTs
roquence created. The young professors an
nounccment, Therefore, that he int"nl / 10 foend
IN Cl;Scr,atory and an astronomical soc'etv. To
buy telescope equal 70 the best in Europe. aud
10 raise the money by personal solicitations WIS
Il fine il.ustIat:cA Of the audacity ami pr0mptness
Of initiative which We have mentioned as '" ing
traits of his character. a narrative Of the
progress and triumph of the enterprise is prir,nd
from his manuscript, filling nearly one
brnd,o1 nar.s OF the volume We
know Of few more fascinating stories
of the pursuit of under difficulties. Mitche
canvasscd the city himself. calling upon about
100 persons before he obtained the desired sub
scrption. Then he went TO Europe to buy tee-
scope and In this undertaking an unlocked for
obstacle presented ITSELF Neither In London nor IN
Paris was an object-gass of the large SIZE he
wanted-twelve ilches-to be found, and the in
sirlmcnt makers would not prom Sc TO construct
one in less than i've years. Nit he well knew that
40 long delay would be tatel 10 his
scheme; his astronomical society would die out
and the subscriptions would never be pnd. Almost
in despair he went to Germany. He long search
was Iewarded at Munich, but the price Of the in
struments there offered him considerably more
than the funds at his disposal. He hurried home
to resume collecting. and after some IN lnths of
hard labor the deficiency was supplied, many OF
the subscriptions being III the form OF due bills,
payat ,e III mechanics work, boots and shoes.
bacon barrels groceries. hardware lard,
dry-goods, and various other commodities. The
telescope having been secured, the observatory to
contain it had next TO be called into existence.
and the account of this heartbreaking work.
in which Professor Mitchell often resOrted 10 bold
and original devices to save expense, Is as enter
tanning the story of the search for an object
glass Being charged an excessive price for haul
ing sand he bought horses and carts shoyelitd
loads with his own hands. and some
times drove the teams good part OF
every week was passed IN raising
cash to pay the men. and Saturday night always
saw the purse empty. "Ifrequently," says Mitchell
"made four five trades to turn nay due bills pay
able in trade, into cash" The building was com
peted without the mourning of any debt, except to
Professor Mitchell HIMSELF and when the equato-
rial was mounted in 1S45 it was, with the excep-
ton of That at Putowa the finest refracting tcle-